My Kind Of Infirmary
by PJayKeller
Summary: Sequel to My Kind Of Bravery. Jen's still in danger but this time from someone closer to home Ronon/Keller pre-ship
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer:- Don't own anything, so please don't sue me.

A/N:- This immediately follows the events of 'My Kind of Bravery'.

There are 2 main constants in the universe, whether one is in the Milky Way or Pegasus Galaxy. 1 – Rodney McKay is an egotistical, but brilliant, scientist and 2. Doctors really do make the worst possible patients.

Jennifer Keller, Chief Medical Officer of the Atlantis expedition, hated the infirmary right now. She didn't remember anything after she had asked Ronon to stun her on the planet Tallon, until the moment she woke up in a bed in her own infirmary 2 days ago, attached to a morphine drip for her pain. Her injuries, sustained during her capture and captivity by the slavers, were minor, apart from the damage to her back. She had bruises to her face and arms from the rough handling and a few scrapes from being thrown around in their ship, but fortunately no broken bones. The problem, of course, was the result of being lashed. She did not know how many lashes she had endured and truthfully she didn't want to. Even though she had been rescued quickly, the conditions in the camp were so bad, that infection was almost inevitable.

So there she was, lay in her bed, pumped full of painkillers and antibiotics – and bored out of her mind. Visitors were being kept to a minimum, which in a way she was grateful for, if only because of the embarrassment factor. One day, she thought, somebody might actually design a hospital gown that didn't show everything whenever you moved. In her doped up state, she wondered idly what McKay would say if she asked him to do it.

Her mind drifted back to when she first woke. The infirmary was rarely quiet but the noise level that day was enough to wake the dead. As she looked around in a daze, all she could see were children everywhere. Then she spotted Ronon, sat on the floor in a corner, completely surrounded. On his knee sat a little girl with short black hair who Jen recognised as one she had treated in the camp. She had diagnosed a broken left wrist and the fact that it was not yet in a cast told her that she hadn't been out of it that long – or at least she hoped not.

Jennifer spent several minutes just watching Ronon interact with the children. Then almost as though he knew that she was watching him, he looked straight at her and grinned. Whispering something to the girl, he gently set her on the floor, got up and headed for Jen's bed, grabbing a chair along the way.

"Hi Doc".

"Hey you. How long...?" she started.

Anticipating her question, Ronon replied "You've been out for nearly 24 hours, way longer than was expected. Jenkins decided to sedate you once the stun started to wear off, to give your nurses time to clean your wounds and get you comfortable. I'll let him know you're awake".

Jennifer's hand shot out and grabbed his wrist.

"Not yet. Tell me what happened. I know I'll get the truth from you, with no frills".

He looked at her, an eyebrow raised. "No frills?" he questioned.

"I'll explain it later, as long as you remind me that I said it, my head's not quite straight at the moment".

"Okay you ask the questions. If I know the answer, fine. If not, I'll find someone who does".

Jen closed her eyes briefly, as she tried to get her thoughts in order, then asked "Peterson, did he make it?"

"Jenkins did the surgery. As far as I know, he'll recover".

"Thank God for that. I thought I'd made things worse by moving him. I'll talk to Marie, she can give me the medical data. How many children?"

"162. That's how many we brought back to Atlantis" replied a new voice. "How you doin', Doc?"

Col. Sheppard, Teyla and Rodney McKay had joined Ronon at her bedside and it was Sheppard who had spoken.

"Don't understand...", she mumbled.

"What do you not understand, Jennifer", asked Teyla gently, as she slid into the seat that Ronon had vacated on their arrival.

"Been out for 12 hours. Why are there children still here needing treatment, they should have already been seen. Ronon, the little girl you were with has a broken wrist, she must be hurting badly. Why has nobody dealt with her yet? I've got to get out of this bed, I've got to...". Jen's voice rose steadily betraying her distress at the situation.

The moment that Jen tried to move, Ronon was there, gently pushing her back onto her pillows. He stayed at the head of the bed, one hand resting lightly on her shoulder as Teyla took hold of her hand.

"Jennifer, please try to calm yourself. Many of the children that you saved needed treatment. With you unable to work, Dr Mills on Earth and Dr Jenkins taking care of Peterson, your staff have been extremely busy. They are doing the best that they can".

"Yes of course they are. I just feel so helpless, so bloody useless", Jen said, closing her eyes as a wave of nausea swept over her. "Why am I feeling so awful?"

Dr McKay spoke then for the first time since entering the infirmary, saying I'll go and find your nurse. She'll be able to explain everything properly, but suffice it to say, you picked up a nasty infection and they're now giving you massive doses of antibiotics and stuff".

As he left to find Marie, Jen realised that he had not looked directly at her all the time he had been speaking, and she turned to each of the others.

Sheppard answered her unspoken question. "What they did to you on the planet affected him badly. It might take him a while to get over it".

Jen nodded and there was silence for a few minutes until Rodney returned with Marie, everyone's favourite nurse. As she explained things to Jen and checked her readings, Atlantis' premier team moved away slightly to give the pair a little privacy. Jen and Marie's conversation lasted some time and the 4 teammates started to feel a little uneasy.

"Hey Doc" called Sheppard, "everything okay?"

"Yes Col. everything's fine" replied Jen, but without much conviction.

As Marie finished filling in Jen's chart, she murmured "I'll go and let him know you're awake".

Jen lay back down against her pillows, eyes closed yet again this time trying to fight off sleep.

"Doc, we'll let you get some rest. We need to go see Carter about getting these kids home to their families, we'll see you later on" said Sheppard as each member of the team stepped up to say their goodbyes.

Ronon was last and as he turned to go, Jen once again grabbed at his hand, this time pulling him down so that their heads were only inches apart.

"Don't let them send me back to Earth. Please promise me you won't let them send me back" she whispered as sleep finally claimed her.

Ronon looked at her in shock and held her hand for a while longer, gently stroking it, before he left to return to the waiting children.


	2. Chapter 2

Ronon remained in the infirmary for almost another hour until all the children had been seen, including Rula, the little girl with the broken wrist. He checked Jen on his way out and found her sleeping fitfully. After asking Marie, nicely, to let him know if her condition changed, he gathered his charges and returned them to the hastily prepared childcare facilities, then went looking for his team leader. Bearing in mind the time, he decided the Mess Hall was the obvious starting place, correctly as it turned out. He collected a tray, strode over to the rest of his teams table and sat down with a sigh.

"Hey Big Guy" came Sheppard's usual greeting. "You slept yet?"

"I'll catch up in a while. Have you seen Carter already?"

"No, she was up to her neck requesting extra supplies from Earth. The arrival of this many injured has put a strain on resources. She doesn't want us running out of any drugs anytime soon, plus she thought she'd try and get clothes and toys for the kids we're not going to be able to send home. They could be with us for a while".

"Do you think there will be many of them?" Rodney asked, very quietly.

"I wish I knew Rodney. So many of the kids are traumatised, some of them can't even tell us where they're from. I think we're talking a fairly long process here".

"What about the 2 who claim to be Satedan?" Rodney asked, turning to Ronon.

"They haven't been tested yet. I was going to wait for Jennifer to do it, they seem to like her. But now..."

"When Kazy was brought through the Gate, she was given into my care", Teyla began. "She was clearly frightened but she did volunteer some information, though of course I have no way to verify if she was telling the truth or not. She told me that she was 5 years old, Penta was 7 and that they did not live on Sateda".

"I guessed that they were not old enough to have been on Sateda before the attack" interrupted Ronon.

"When the slavers took them, they were living with their parents on a planet called Castin in a small village. The adults were all rounded up and executed. Kazy said that they took her, Penta and 5 other children – one of those did not survive the camp".

"Penta has been a real help" added Sheppard. "He seems to be a natural leader. The other kids listen to him and he's managed to find out quite a few names and home planets".

Rodney stood up abruptly. "Got to go, City to run and all that. See you guys later" he said as he hurried away.

The 3 remaining diners watched him leave in silence. He spoke to no-one on his way out, brushing past Radek when his friend tried to stop him for a chat.

"You are worried about him" observed Teyla, looking at Sheppard.

"Yeah. I don't think I've ever seen him this quiet before. Thinking about it though, he's the one with a child relative, not us. He's probably thinking what if...? The best thing we can do, seeing as we're without a psychologist at the moment, is keep him busy and wait for the breakdown or explosion, whichever comes first. Now though, I've got to see Carter. Anybody coming?"

"Might as well" growled Ronon "Not much else to do".

"I am going to see the children, so I will talk to you later" answered Teyla.

The 3 of them left the Mess Hall, though John Sheppard stopped and whispered a few words to Radek on his way. Radek nodded before continuing with his meal, and Sheppard and Ronon headed off to Col. Carter's office.

When they got there, Sam looked frazzled – there was no other word for it.

"Have I ever told you just how much I hate having to deal with the IOA – that load of pompous, overbearing, penny pinching, idiotic...".

John cut her off before she really said something hat would, no doubt, find its way back to Earth. None of the senior staff were under any illusions – they certainly had IOA spies on Atlantis.

"So I take it that things went well with them" he smirked.

"Actually" she replied "it was no worse than usual. I just felt like venting and they were a convenient target". She motioned for the 2 men to sit and then continued, "Have you got any good news for me?"

"Okay, the final count for the rescued children was 162, that includes our 2 'Satedans'. Only a handful are not malnourished – they must have been captured very recently. More than half are suffering some kind of injury – whether it's broken bones, cuts and bruises, or lash marks like Keller. Of course there are also a lot of infections".

"We really aren't set up to deal with this many children".

"Should she have ignored them then, left them behind?" asked Ronon angrily.

"Of course not. I'm not angry at Jennifer or the decisions and promises she made. I'm angry at the slavers for creating this problem in the first place" Sam replied, just as angrily.

"On the upside" John said, trying to calm the situation, "Penta is compiling info and hopefully we might be able to start contacting families within the next few days. At least some will be able to go home. The rest, well we're working on that. The other good news is that the Doc woke up, if it was only for a short time. The bad news is that McKay is not handling this whole thing. We're going to have to watch him closely over the next few weeks".

"Okay, I'll make a point to do that. Maybe Radek can..."

"Already had a quiet word with him, but told him not to spread it around".

"Right. So did you speak to Dr Keller at all?"

"Gave her an update on the kids, don't know how much actually registered. She seemed a bit confused, suppose it's all the painkillers she's on".

Sam turned to Ronon. "Have you anything to add, Ronon? I understand you were there when she woke up".

Ronon took a moment to answer. Should he tell Carter that Jen didn't want to go back to Earth, or keep quiet for now and see what happened? In the end, all he said was "No".

"Dr Jenkins called me just before you arrived and updated me on her medical condition, which frankly could have been a lot worse. She's going to be out of commission for at least a couple of weeks. Under the circumstances, I've had no choice but to make Jenkins Acting CMO until she has recovered. It's not ideal, personally I can't stand the guy, but he is next in seniority".

"I wish we'd got there sooner" sighed Sheppard "She took one hell of a beating before she made a sound. Think she surprised a lot of people with her courage".

"Yeah" observed Ronon, as Sam just nodded in agreement.

After a few moments Sam spoke again. "Well, for now, she's in the best place possible and we've got work to do. Start getting Gate addresses, or at least planet names and I'll psych myself up to play diplomat".

As the 2 men left her office, Sheppard turned and grinned at her saying, "Rather you than me".

"Yeah. Well you can do it next time" laughed Sam.


	3. Chapter 3

Jennifer was a very popular patient and the following day she had a steady stream of visitors – scientists, military personnel and children. The one person though, that she really wanted to see failed to come near the infirmary all day. By late afternoon, Dr Jenkins had had enough. He stationed an orderly at the main door with instructions that there were to be no more visitors because 'Dr Keller was exhausted and needed her rest if she was to recover quickly'. Even Dr McKay and Col. Sheppard were turned away when they tried to see her, later that evening.

By the time it got to 02:00 hours, both the orderly and Dr Jenkins had retired for the night and the infirmary was quiet. The nurse on duty was Marie which was fortunate for Jen, because she was bored. Her morphine had been reduced and she had napped earlier, so when Marie came to do her rounds, Jen persuaded her to sit and talk for a while.

"Dr Keller, you really shouldn't worry so much, you know. We'll cope and you can always dispense advice if we need it" said Marie, as Jennifer started apologising, yet again, for all the extra work her staff were having to do.

"Marie, it's just you and me here. For God's sake call me Jennifer, please".

Marie laughed. "So Jennifer, how are you feeling, really feeling I mean. I know what all your results say, but how are you. Do you need anything – other than a big hunky Satedan, that is?"

Jen blushed. "I know he's been busy. Teyla told me, when she visited this morning, but I thought – hoped – that he would have come to see me. Sometimes I just don't know what's going on. I mean is he interested or not? I guess I'll have to wait until this crisis is over before I stand a chance of finding out".

As Jennifer was talking, a slight movement by the door caught Marie's eye and as she glanced up, she smiled.

"Tell you what, Jennifer, you could always ask him" she said, pointing at the figure who was steadily making his way over to them. "I'll leave you to it, keep an eye out for trouble coming back".

"Thanks Marie" she murmured, never once taking her eyes off the approaching man.

Marie smiled at Ronon as she passed him, lightly patting him on the arm, on the way to her desk.

"Hi", Jen said shyly.

"Hey Doc. Wasn't sure if you'd be asleep or not". Ronon spoke quietly, not wishing to disturb any of the infirmary's other patients, as he sat down next to Jen's bed. "How do you feel tonight?"

"Oh you know. Bit sore, bit tired, dead bored. This 'no visitors' rule sucks".

"Yeah, tried to get in to see you earlier. Didn't want to cause trouble, so I waited till I got the all – clear".

They both glanced towards Marie, head bent over her desk, busily writing up her reports.

'Must remember to thank her later' thought Jen. "You look tired too" she said, as Ronon rested a hand on the bed, stretched out his legs and briefly closed his eyes.

"We had a few problems with the children..." he began.

"What kind of problems?" asked Jen quickly, struggling to sit up a little straighter and letting her hand come to rest over his.

"Easy Doc, take it easy. Nothing medical's wrong, at least I don't think it is".

"Then what did happen?"

"One of them keeps disappearing...".

"Literally or..." cut in Jennifer.

"Stop interrupting" he laughed "or I won't have finished telling you by the time your jailer gets back".

Jennifer, feeling daring and just a bit silly, stuck her tongue out at him and he laughed even harder.

"The little girl, the one you were worried about, her name's Rula by the way, somehow she keeps getting out of the room that's been set aside for some of them. Nobody ever seems to see how she does it".

"Where does she go?"

"From what we can tell, she just wanders the corridors, looking in some of the labs and watching the scientists at work. She never says anything but she's given a few people quite a nasty shock".

"I'll bet. What about the other kids? Have you had any luck finding their homes?"

Ronon shifted in the uncomfortable chair, acutely aware that Jennifer's hand was still on his. Gently moving them, he started to stroke the back of her hand with his fingertips, his eyes locked with hers. When she didn't remove it, he grew bolder, his fingers slowly moving up and down her arm. Jennifer shivered and glanced down but made no attempt to stop his actions.

Clearing her throat, her voice shaking slightly, she repeated her question.

"Yeah sorry. We've contacted several worlds", he said, dropping his gaze momentarily "going to start taking some home tomorrow. There will be many that will have to stay on Atlantis until we can find someone to take them. Teyla says that the Athosians will welcome them, when we manage to find them , that is".

"How many, do you think?"

"Don't know yet. Certainly Penta, Kazy, Rula and 3 others that were taken on the Planet Castin will be among those staying".

"Are they Satedan?" asked Jennifer, smiling at the thought of the 2 brave little children.

"Again, I don't know. I hope so. It seems that quite a few groups of survivors from Wraith cullings were living on Castin, so it is possible. Some of the children definitely seem to be at home in a city environment, they will be the hardest ones to resettle".

"You think Rula used to live in a city, don't you?"

"Yes I do, but she says so little, we may never know which is her home planet".

"Mmm" murmured Jennifer, lying back against the pillows and closing her eyes.

"You're tired. I should go and let you sleep" said Ronon as he started to rise.

"No wait" said Jen, clearly struggling to stay awake. "Are you going with them off world tomorrow?"

"Probably. Why?"

Jennifer took a deep breathe, looked Ronon straight in the eye and gripped his hand tightly. When she didn't speak though, he became increasingly worried about her.

"Doc, what's the matter?" When she still didn't answer, he tried again. "Jennifer, What's wrong?"

Jen blinked rapidly – he'd called her Jennifer. She couldn't remember him ever calling her anything other than Doc.

"I need you to be careful off world, I won't be around to patch you up if you get hurt, remember. Please don't forget what I said earlier – don't let them send me back to Earth – for any reason, okay. I don't really understand why, but there are only 2 people on this base that I trust completely – Marie and you. If something should happen to me, anything at all, you talk to her. Do you understand me, Ronon?"

Ronon was both honoured and confused. He couldn't believe that she trusted him that much. Even though he was seriously attracted to her, he didn't really know her that well. Oh, he knew that she was clever, hard working, loyal and brave – even if she didn't think she was – but he didn't know HER. He was confused though about the rest of her statement. Was it the pain and the drugs talking or did she believe that she was in real danger.

"Doc" he said softly "what do you mean 'if something should happen'".

There was no reply. Jennifer, totally exhausted, had fallen into a deep sleep. He sat by her bedside for a long whle, just watching her, before he realised that he should leave the infirmary before the day shift arrived and he was thrown out. Dropping a light kiss on her forehead, he slipped away, unseen by anybody.


	4. Chapter 4

The following day started badly when Jennifer was woken early by Marie, who was just going off shift.

Reverting back to their usual formality, Marie said "Dr Keller, my shift's over and even though we're short staffed, I'm going to have to get some sleep. Should I ask Col. Carter to assign you a Marine for protection – I'm sure she would if you told her?"

"Told her what, Marie? That I just have this 'feeling' something's wrong. She'll probably tell me I'm paranoid – she's probably right as well. I have absolutely no evidence of anything. I told Ronon, last night, what I told you. I trust you both".

"Okay Doctor. I won't say I'm happy with your decision but I'll abide by it for now. My shift starts at 18:00 hours but I'll try and pop by later, at least that orderly shouldn't keep me out. If you need me, Julie Banks is on today, give her a message".

Jennifer nodded as Marie straightened her covers, patted her arm and turned to leave the infirmary. She glanced back over her shoulder.

"Remember what I said, Doc".

"Oh for Heaven's sake, go. Get something to eat and then sleep for at least 6 hours. Doctor's orders" laughed Jennifer, waving her goodbye.

Jen lay back and closed her eyes. It was still 2 hours till breakfast and she knew she wouldn't be getting any more visitors anytime soon. She dozed for a while, her mind in a turmoil. She couldn't shake the feeling that something WAS wrong. 'Perhaps I am paranoid' she thought, just as a new feeling struck her – she was being watched.

Her eyes shot open and she quickly looked around. There in a corner with her thumb in her mouth – just like children everywhere it seemed – stood the little girl with short black hair. They stared at each other until Jen blinked and rubbed her eyes, convinced that she was hallucinating. When she opened them again – the girl, Rula, was gone.

'Oh God' she thought 'what the hell's happening to me. Now I'm seeing things'.

Realising that she was not going to go back to sleep anytime soon. She called over one of her junior nurses and asked for a laptop. She reasoned that even injured she could do some work, be it staff rotas or supply requisitions.

At that particular point in time, the infirmary was one of the safest places to be on Atlantis. The Gateroom was in chaos, with what looked to be almost the entire population of Atlantis crammed in, all trying to talk to about 40 children. Col. Carter, Col. Sheppard and Ronon stood at the top of the steps, looking down at the mass of people in amusement.

"Let's go to my office, it's definitely quieter in there. I need to talk to the pair of you about Dr Keller, among other things".

When they arrived, Sam and Sheppard both sat while Ronon leant against the wall, wondering what had happened to Jennifer in the few hours since he'd seen her.

"Okay first of all, the kids who are going today. How many Marines do you intend sending with each group?"

"I thought 2 would be ample going to planets that we've already visited, not that there are that many of them. For the new ones, probably double it. We're not expecting trouble, all the people we've contacted were happy to hear from us and looking forward to getting their kids back" replied Sheppard. "It's hard to believe they've only been on the base a couple of days, it seems like much longer".

"A lot of people are going to be disappointed when they go. I think it's made Atlantis more 'homey' having them here, if you know what I mean".

"It reminds them of what they have left behind" said Ronon, speaking for the first time since entering the office.

"I know. The ones that are going to end up staying with us though, at least for a while, are going to need proper quarters and maybe some kind of education. It's not like at the SGC, where we can find adoptive parents for them" said Sam, thinking about Cassie and Janet Fraiser. "For now, I've requested as many childcare experts with the right level of clearance, as I think I can get away with. Rodney's looking into where we can set up quarters, far enough away from any really sensitive areas but close enough so that we can keep an eye on them, especially ones that seem to be able to get out of locked rooms".

Sheppard and Ronon looked at each other and Sheppard shrugged, "Don't know how she does it."

"We had a race at the SGC that could do the same kind of thing. We need to check her for advanced tech, sooner rather than later. If she has got some device maybe it'll be enough to keep Rodney occupied once he's sorted the quarters. He's asked to stay on base for a time, Radek and I will keep an eye on him. We can't afford to lose him".

"Damn. Do you think that could happen?"

"I wish I knew. What I don't understand, is why this thing with Keller has got him so wound up. Do either of you have any ideas?"

Both men shook their heads.

"Anyway on to Dr Keller. Dr Jenkins contacted me earlier about her condition. Without going in to details, all I can tell you is that he feels she would be better off going back to Earth, temporarily of course. He says that there are facilities which are designed for people in her state".

"What did you tell him?" demanded Ronon, pushing off the wall and coming to stand in front of Sam's desk.

"I said no, at least for the time being. I want to talk to Jennifer myself before I make any decision to send her back. Dr. Jenkins says she can start having visitors again tomorrow, so I'll wait till then unless something happens in the meantime".

Ronon considered his options – should he tell Carter now or wait and see if Jennifer told her herself. In the end he decided to wait, it would probably seem strange that he was the one voicing her wishes and not one of her nurses.

"As with most things in this place" said Sam "we'll see how it goes". "So, are you 2 ready for your latest dangerous mission" she added laughing.

"You alright, Big Guy?" Sheppard asked as the pair watched groups of Marines try to sort out their kids from the melee.

"No, but at the moment there is nothing I can do about it" replied Ronon. "Let's just get these children home, then maybe you and I can talk. I think I need some advice".

Sheppard was shocked, but managed to keep his expression neutral. Ronon never asked for advice. Whatever was bothering him must be serious.

"Okay" shouted Sheppard to the crowd. "If everyone is ready, here's how this is going to work. All personnel not going through the Gate, you've had enough time to say your goodbyes, so beat it". He waited a few minutes then continued, "Those kids that are flying Puddle Jumper Airways, go with your escorts to the Jumper Bay. The rest of you, get yourselves sorted and move out of the way. Chuck up there, is going to shout out which planet he's dialled, make sure you go to the right one please. Any questions? No. Good. Let's move out".

Once everyone was sorted out, the Gateroom emptied surprisingly quickly. Ronon, Sheppard and 'their' 3 children were the last to leave, Sheppard telling the kids to wave to 'Auntie Sam' as they went through the wormhole.

"I'm sure he's the biggest kid on Atlantis" she muttered to no one in particular.

Peace returned to the Gateroom, until teams started to come back, some rather the worse for drink. It seemed that some people were REALLY happy to get their children back. Sheppard and Ronon were predictably the last ones o come back through, laughing and joking. Sam met them at the bottom of the steps and her expression was bleak.

"Oh God. What's happened? Please tell me it's not Rodney" said Sheppard, his voice betraying his panic.

"No John, Rodney's fine" said Sam quietly. Turning to Ronon, she continued "I'm sorry. It's Dr. Keller".


	5. Chapter 5

For one heart stopping moment Ronon didn't move. Then he pushed past Col. Carter obviously heading for the infirmary.

"Ronon wait" she called after him "It won't do you any good to go to the infirmary, you can't see her for the time being".

"Give me a good reason why not" he growled, stopping to look at her, "and it had better be a very good reason indeed or nothing you can do will stop me".

Sam refrained from pointing out that a bullet to the head would stop him, because she knew from past experience exactly what he was going through.

Sheppard moved towards him in an effort to keep the peace, saying "Calm down there buddy. Let's all go somewhere quiet and more private, then we can find out what's happened".

"Good idea" agreed Sam "main conference room, 20 minutes. I'll round up Rodney and Teyla. Ronon, don't do anything stupid. I promise that everything will be explained".

Sheppard led Ronon away, presumably to stow his gear and grab a sandwich from the Mess Hall. Going straight on from there, they were in the conference room in minutes, Sheppard perched on the edge of the table, Ronon pacing in front of him.

"Talk to me Ronon, now before the others get here".

"I went to the infirmary last night, spent some time with her, talked to her. She was worried about something – I think she knew something was going to happen to her".

"Damn. Why didn't you tell me, or at least someone. We could have put a guard on her".

"You think I don't know that? This is my fault, John. It's just that I wasn't sure if it was her or the meds talking. Do you understand what I'm saying, I just wasn't sure..."

"Okay, let's see what Carter has to say, then we'll try and work out what to do".

Ronon was still restless. He didn't want to see Carter, he wanted to see Jennifer. He kept looking at the clock, then the door, then back to the clock.

"Two more minutes Sheppard, that's all. If they're not here by then, I'm gone and nothing will stop me seeing her".

Just then the door opened and Sam entered followed by Rodney, Teyla and, surprisingly, Major Lorne, all of them in total silence. Sam closed and locked the door behind them. Ronon's impatience was growing by the second and everybody knew just how close he was to exploding.

Sam spoke quietly but firmly. "Please let's all sit down and keep our cool. This is a difficult time and we have to consider how best to help Dr Keller through it".

As Teyla passed Ronon, she touched her forehead to his in the traditional Athosian greeting, then placed a hand on his shoulder and gently pushed him down into a chair. Nobody was under any illusion that, in his present state of mind, he could easily have shaken her off.

Sam took a deep breathe, she was not looking forward to this at all. "Okay" she started, "We'll do this in a logical manner. I'll give you the facts as I know them. Then, and only then, will we discuss what it means. Is that clear to everyone?"

All of them nodded, even Ronon – eventually.

"Roughly 2 hours after you left Atlantis, according to Dr Jenkins who was on duty at the time, Dr Keller became extremely agitated. She ripped out her morphine drip and when a nurse tried to re-insert it, she became violent. She got out of her bed, grabbed a pair of surgical scissors and I'm afraid she stabbed Dr Jenkins in the upper arm before turning them on herself, suffering a wound to the stomach. Major Lorne was in the infirmary at the time visiting Peterson. Major, would you please continue?"

Lorne looked uncomfortable. "Dr Keller was... God, I'm sorry Ronon, I had no other choice. I hit her, knocked her out. She was waving those scissors around wildly, I was scared somebody else was going to get hurt. Dr Thomas sedated her and..."

When it was obvious Lorne could or would not continue Sam took up the story. "Dr Thomas sedated her, heavily, and at the moment she is in restraints for her own protection as much as anyone else. I don't like it, but I have to abide by the doctor's decision. Dr Jenkins is now insisting that she be sent back to Earth ASAP for treatment".

For several moments there was silence giving Ronon and Sheppard time to digest the news.

Then Ronon stood and looked directly at Sam. "No" he said, "You will not send her to Earth. I gave her my promise".

"Ronon I don't think I can overrule him on this. He is in charge now and..."

Whatever she was about to say was lost as Ronon continued "Jennifer knew that something was going to happen to her. I was with her last night, well actually very early this morning. She was not agitated or violent. Something or somebody caused this".

"You understand what you're implying don't you?" asked Sam.

"Yes. I believe that someone wants to remove her as CMO for some unknown reason. Jennifer said ' Don't let them send me back to Earth'. She said she trusted me. I failed to keep her safe but I won't break my promise to her. One way or another she stays here".

"Ronon, surely you want what is best for Jennifer's health. If that means going back to Earth until she is better..." began Teyla.

"If she goes back to Earth, we'll never see her here again. They won't let her come back to Atlantis, you know that. They'll say she can't handle the pressure or something like that. Have you talked to Marie yet, asked her what she thinks is going on?"

Rodney looked up from his laptop and glanced at Sam and Lorne. When he spoke his voice was decidedly un-Rodney like. "We can't find her. She's not in her quarters, the infirmary, Mess Hall or any of the usual places one would expect to find her. Because she doesn't tend to go off world much, she was never fitted with a transmitter, like us, so we can't track her. Oh, and by the way, your little Doc does now have one, it was one of the first things we did when she was brought back from that God forsaken place. At least we won't lose her off world again".

"We're not going to have the opportunity to lose her, if Ronon is right about all this" said Sheppard. "I presume you've got teams out looking for this nurse".

"Of course, but it's a big city, John. I don't know how long it'll take or how long I can stall Dr Jenkins. The Daedalus will be in orbit in just a few hours and he's going to expect her to be on it when it leaves. Col. Caldwell is under orders to off load the supplies and new personnel quickly, then vacate the area" answered Sam.

As she finished speaking the conference door opened – the locked conference door – and the occupants were greeted by the sight of 2 scared looking children, holding each others hand tightly.

"Okay" said Sam "I know I locked that door. What's going on?"

Penta looked at Ronon, then Sam and said in a voice barely above a whisper, "You both have to come with us. Somebody needs to talk to you".

"Who?" demanded Ronon "We don't have time to play games today".

Rula just stared at Sam, put her finger over her lips in the universal sign to be quiet and held out her hand.

"Please" was all she said before she took Sam's hand and led her out of the room, closely followed by Ronon and Penta.

Lorne stood and said "I'm going to check up on the search teams" before he too, left the room. Sheppard just nodded to him and Teyla followed him without a word, leaving Sheppard alone with McKay. He looked over at the scientist who was sat, staring into space.

"Rodney" he began slowly "Are you ok? You know that you can talk to me about anything, don't you. I mean, we are friends, right. And I know I don't always talk about things that I should, but you do, usually, and this time you're not, and well we're worried about you". "Did any of that make sense" he added.

"Perfect sense, actually. Maybe, when this is all over, I will" he replied quietly.

A/N :- Thanks to all who have reviewed this story. On the subject of cliffhangers, long may they continue. LOL (evilly)


	6. Chapter 6

"Okay Rodney, for now I'll accept that, but I won't be happy if you have a breakdown or if you kick Ronon's butt or you do something else equally stupid" said John, desperately trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah ok" was the tired reply.

John thought quickly – he had to get Rodney out of whatever dark place he had gone to. John knew all about 'dark places' like that from his own experiences in Afghanistan – survivor's guilt, in his case. Was that Rodney's problem as well, he wondered. So, he decided, if he couldn't get Rodney to talk, he'd have to get him to work instead.

"Right Rodney, can you track Carter and Ronon on that thing?" he said, pointing to the ever present laptop.

"Of course. I might be depressed but I'm not stupid, you know".

That was a bit more like the old Rodney, thought John. "Well where are they then?"

"Right, yes, course you actually mean, can I track them as they're traipsing round the City right now, don't you?"

"Yes Rodney".

"Right" he said, typing in the necessary instructions. "See, there they are, heading out towards the East Pier. See if you can raise them on the radio. I'm picking up them and 2 other life signs, but that's it".

Sheppard tapped his earpiece. "Sam, Ronon do you read. Over".

"We're here John" replied Sam, "though I have to be honest, I don't know where here is".

"Rodney says you're heading..."

"Whoa" shouted Rodney. "They've gone. All 4 life signs just vanished off my screen. They must have entered a shielded area".

"Sam, you still there?"

"Yes. Why?"

"Just checking. Rodney says you've entered a shielded area".

"I don't think so, John. We haven't moved since you first called. Once this is all over, we'll have to have a little talk with Rula here. Whatever just happened is because of her, I'm sure of it".

"Agreed. So do you know where you're going yet or who you're going to see?"

"They haven't said" answered Sam "but I have my suspicions. No names over the air, in case we're being monitored".

"Okay. Keep in touch" said John, signing off.

"Do you know" said Rodney, looking a little brighter, "how hard it is to follow a conversation when you only hear half of it?"

"Come on, Rodney. Let's go for a walk outside. Get some sea air" said Sheppard, not answering Rodney's question.

It hadn't dawned on him until Sam mentioned it, but perhaps someone was listening in on their frequency. It would be a little harder outside and they could always resort to passing notes out of view of any security cameras, if absolutely necessary.

Meanwhile, near the East Pier, Sam and Ronon were led into a large storage room full of empty crates, where they found the woman that Sam had expected to see – Marie. She was sat on the floor, her back resting against a crate, with Kazy asleep on her lap. On seeing Ronon and Sam, she gently laid Kazy down on the floor, stood up and brushed off her dusty pants.

"Col. , Ronon. Thank God they found you. I've been so scared. Is Jennifer okay?"

"Marie" said Ronon quickly "Start at the beginning and tell us what is going on",

"How's Jennifer. Did he kill her?"

Sam and Ronon looked at each other in horror.

"Jennifer has a self inflicted stab wound to the stomach, she stabbed Jenkins in the arm, she's in restraints and they're going to send her back to Earth. We haven't got much time, please tell us" Ronon was almost pleading by the time he'd finished talking.

"Okay, short version coming up. Jennifer had a feeling that something was wrong in the infirmary when she returned from Tallon. It was just a feeling, there was no proof. After you left the other morning" she said, looking at Ronon "I finished my shift, had something to eat and got my 6 hours of sleep. I'd told Jennifer I'd pop in to see her if I could. When I got there, there was a privacy curtain pulled part of the way down one side of her bed, which was odd. All I saw was a figure injecting something into her IV line. Despite what I said before, it could have been a man or a woman. That orderly on jailer duty knocked over a surgical trolley, and of course everyone looked that way".

"It was probably a distraction. Give the other person time to get away" said Sam.

"Yeah that's what I thought. Whatever was injected worked fast, Jennifer was already shouting and thrashing about by the time I turned back. I was scared that I'd been seen, so I left, got far enough away and started running till these 3 found me and brought me here. I should have stayed with her, I might have been able to help".

"No. If you had stayed, you could have suffered the same fate as Jen. At least now we know somebody did this to her" said Ronon, patting Marie's shoulder gently. Ominously he continued, "And when I get my hands on them I will make them pay dearly for what they've done".

"Marie" asked Sam "could you tell what she's been given, if you had the rightequipment?2

"Sorry Col. Carter, but no, I don't think I could".

.

"Who do you trust enough to do it then?"

"That's just it Col. A week ago I would have said anybody, now I don't trust any of them. I don't even trust the doctors on the Daedalus".

"What about that little grey alien?" asked Ronon.

"You mean Hermiod, the Asgard. That's a good idea Ronon. We'll have to do it in secret though, away from both infirmaries. I'll talk to Caldwell, set things up. But even when we know what it is, provided of course, that it's something we can 'fix', we're still going to need a plan".

"That's the easy part, as long as that little girl over here" he said, pointing at Rula, "can do what we think she can. Kazy is a living lie detector, you know that, right?"

"It was mentioned in passing. Not the how, but the fact that she's almost always correct. She could be very useful, if she's willing to help us" answered Sam.

"Oh I don't think that'll be a problem" laughed Marie "Jennifer's the lollipop lady and Kazy loves lollipops".

"I'll make sure we put in an order for an extra case next time the Daedalus comes this way. We need to get back to the others to make sure we get this right.

Marie looked worried. "Col. what if the person who did this saw me and knows that I saw them. I don't mind admitting that I'm scared".

"Don't worry" said Sam "I'll arrange a 24/7 guard for you until this is over and any bad apples are weeded out". "I thought Major Lorne would be an ideal personal guard for you" she added slyly watching as Marie blushed every bit as brightly as Jennifer ever had. "You know sometimes, I wonder if I'm running a military base or a dating agency".

Both she and Marie burst out laughing while Ronon just looked bemused.

"What's a dating agency?"

"Ask Jennifer when she's better" advised Sam, when she'd managed to calm down enough. "Marie, I want you to take the children and stay in your quarters until we need you. Ronon , you'll stay with them until Lorne and his team get there".

Ronon just nodded in acknowledgement of his orders.

"When everything is setup there, I want you to join the rest of us if the conference room, say in 2 hours.

"Should be plenty of time" he agreed.

"Good. Let's go and get our Doctor back then, shall we".

Ronon picked up Kazy, who was still sleeping and the little group headed back towards the centre of the City.


	7. Chapter 7

Four and a half hours later Ronon Dex, Satedan Specialist, was furious. He stalked out of the gym after a short training session and smashed his fist into the corridor wall, shouting back at the open door "I don't want to know". Sheppard tore out after him, almost knocking Teyla over in the process.

"John, what is happening? Where is Ronon going in such a hurry?"

"He wants to see Keller right now and it doesn't look as though he's going to take no for an answer from anyone, including me. I'd better go and make sure that he doesn't kill someone".

Events seemed to conspire against him that day. A number of people stopped him for a variety of reasons and by the time he managed to get to the infirmary Ronon had already had about a 15 minute head start. Which by the look of it, was about 14 minutes too much – the place resembled a War Zone. Fortunately Dr Keller and the injured Marine, Peterson, were the only patients when he'd started his rampage. Obviously there would be a few more when the bodies were sorted out, even if only on a temporary basis. Ronon had avoided attacking the medical staff – after all they were not fighters – but a group of Marines, led by Major Preston, had not been so lucky. Ronon may not have physically harmed the doctors but many of the more timid ones were trying to find hiding places.

By the time John had made it through the door, Ronon was being held back by 3 burly Marines, who were all sporting cuts and rapidly forming bruises. Doctor Thomas was helping Dr Jenkins to his feet and the pair of them made their way over to where Sheppard was surveying the scene of devastation. At the far side of the infirmary he could see Nurse Banks, hovering over the still sedated and restrained Jennifer Keller.

Dr Thomas, who Sheppard had to admit he didn't know all that well, planted himself in front of John and jabbed his finger in the direction of his chest.

John just looked at him with an extremely cold expression. Don't do it Doc, don't even think about it. Or I may very well finish what he's started. Believe it or not, all of this is your fault. If WE, and I include Ronon in that we, had been allowed to see Dr Keller from the beginning, this could have been avoided. You must have heard rumours concerning those two". He pointed in the general direction of Ronon and Keller.

"Be that as it may Colonel" replied Dr Thomas. "However, I demand that you remove this... this...person from the infirmary immediately. I imagine it will be a long time before you'll find a doctor to treat him again after this".

John walked over to Ronon shaking his head.

"You happy now, buddy" he yelled at him. "Fuck, they'll probably throw you off Atlantis for this. Is that what you want? To go back to a life on your fucking own?"

"Fuck you Sheppard. If she's not here, I couldn't care less where I am", Ronon shouted back, trying to get free of the Marines restraining him.

"Major Preston. Escort Ronon to his quarters. I want 2 armed guards on his door at all times and a further 2 stationed 100 yards each way down the corridor. No visitors allowed apart from myself or Col. Carter, and under no circumstances is he to be allowed to leave. Oh, and make sure you remove all weapons from his quarters. I will be along later when we've decided on a course of action. Dismissed".

"Yes Sir", replied Preston, as Ronon was led away.

Sheppard turned back to the 2 doctors saying "I am now in a very bad mood, so let's get this done, shall we? Is Keller ready to be transported to the Daedalus? Good, we'll transport her, bed and all. The Daedalus will send you a replacement".

He tapped his earpiece. "Col. Caldwell, are you ready to receive Dr Keller and myself?"

On receiving an affirmative response, he moved to Keller's bedside and seconds later both vanished in a flash of white light. They appeared in a medium sized white room surrounded by equipment where both Col. Caldwell and Col. Carter were waiting for them, along with a short, middle aged woman in a white coat.

"Send them their package" Caldwell said into his radio.

"Change of plans John. Col. Caldwell has found a Doctor who is willing to go into total isolation when she's done the tests. Provided Jennifer can be helped, Dr Adams will stay there until we find out what's going on" said Sam, as she and the doctor started hooking Jennifer up to the various machines.

"How long?"

"Hopefully an hour, maybe two" answered Sam, "Why?"

"If we're both off base for too long, somebody might get suspicious. I thought I'd better go down and deal with Ronon" smirked John. "People will be expecting it".

"Have fun" laughed Sam.

Sheppard beamed back down to Atlantis appearing outside Ronon's quarters, where Major Preston was supervising the removal of his weapons.

"Any problems, Major?"

"No Sir. He hasn't helped us but he hasn't hindered us either. He's just lay on his bed staring at the ceiling, hasn't moved since we got here".

"Okay. I'd prefer to do this in private, nobody deserves an audience for this kind of dressing down. If he causes trouble, I'll yell".

"Yes Sir" answered Preston, not looking too happy about it.

Sheppard entered the room, walked over to the bed and took a small recorder out of his pocket, placing it on Ronon's nightstand. In complete silence, Ronon got up and as John pressed 'Play', the 2 men moved into the bathroom.

As the pre-recorded dressing down played on, John spoke quietly "Okay, we've got about 10 minutes. They're running the tests up on the Daedalus as we speak. Carter reckons a couple of hours max. Your room is free of weapons so provided things go well, we'll beam Keller here ASAP. You realise, of course, that when this is over, you and I are going to have an awful lot of apologising to do!"

"Yeah, well if I...we, get her back, it'll be worth it".

Pretending not to notice Ronon's slip of the tongue, John said "Right, we'll keep in touch using the alternate frequency and once I leave here, only your life sign will register unless we want otherwise. Rula is a little computer genius by the way, that's how she kept getting in and out of locked rooms, she was hacking the system. She's a hell of a quick learner when it comes to Ancient technology. She's driving McKay mad. Between them, they've set up a 

privacy programme so your room will appear to be quiet even if you're screaming inside it. I expect that you're going to need that. Okay what else is left to arrange?"

"Food. I can't go out to the Mess Hall and we're going to need food for two, eventually".

"Best bet will be a supply of field rations then. I'll get them beamed in from the Daedalus. I'll tell your guard something to cover the fact you're not having food delivered. I need to keep the Marine's outside, not to keep you in, but to keep everybody else out. Once Keller is here, the 2 of you will be on your own – you okay with that?"

Ronon just nodded, and with perfect timing, the recorder clicked off.

"Think about what I've said Ronon. You're confined to quarters until we decide on charges" said John in his normal voice as he opened the door to leave.

Once Sheppard had left his quarters, Ronon set about moving furniture and getting prepared for Jennifer's arrival. He wanted to make sure that there was nothing she could hurt herself on, or hurt him with. As John had said, they would be on their own except in a dire emergency.

Less than an hour later, Col. Carter contacted him.

"Okay" she began "Good news, bad news time. Good news is that she should make a full recovery in time, but she's going to have to go through some pretty bad withdrawal symptoms. It won't be pleasant".

"It never is" answered Ronon quietly. "And the bad news?"

"The drug she was given is, in part, based on the Wraith enzyme. It's been combined with other things, but it's pretty clear to us, that it was done on Atlantis, by someone on Jennifer's staff. They are the only ones with access to the pure enzyme" Sam said sadly. "She's still sedated but we'll give her another dose. That should give you around 6 hours before she wakes. All her personal belongings are here as well to beam down".

"Okay. Send her down first, no bed, just her. There's a mattress on the floor by my position, there will be fine. Send the rest in a while".

"Understood. Beaming Jennifer now".

As he watched, Jennifer's slight form appeared in his room and Ronon breathed a sigh of relief.


	8. Chapter 8

Ronon knelt on the edge of the mattress gently stroking Jennifer's face and pushing her hair out of her eyes. Moving his fingers slowly over her neck to her pulse point, he checked and found it to be steady. She looked so peaceful lying there but Ronon knew that that would change very soon. Having gone through the painful withdrawal process from the Wraith enzyme that Aiden Ford had forced on him, he at least knew what to expect. Col. Carter was right – it wasn't going to be pleasant. But he would get her through it, he had to get her through it, if there was even a remote chance of the two of them having a future together. And he found that, yes, he really did want a future with her – the kind that included bonding and children. That was something that he hadn't thought about in many, many years.

But first he had to get her well again. Knowing how he himself felt about hospital gowns, he decided to try and find something slightly better for her to wear from among her belongings, hoping that she wouldn't mind too much when she found out. Eventually finding the bag containing her sleepwear, he took out a pale pink T-shirt and matching shorts, thinking that they would be suitable.

Taking them back to the mattress, he sat down and carefully pulled her into a sitting position, one hand cradling her head against his chest, the other undoing the ties at the back of her gown. Lightly, not able to help himself, he brushed his fingers over the warm skin that he uncovered. Thinking that it was just as well that Jen was asleep, and could therefore not feel how fast his heart had started beating, he slipped the gown off her shoulders, replacing it with her T-shirt. As much as he wanted to move them, he kept his eyes firmly on her face, until he laid her back down to slide her shorts up her long legs, over her tiny white panties. After several minutes of just silently watching her, he knew he had to move away, before he could no longer resist the urge to touch her again.

Knowing that he still had a few hours before she would wake, he decided that he would take a shower – definitely a cold one – and have something to eat, as it might be a while before he would get the chance to do either again.

Elsewhere on Atlantis, life was carrying on as normal – or what passed as normal for a city floating on an ocean. Col. Carter and Col. Sheppard walked towards Sam's office talking quietly.

"Did Dr Adams give you any indication how long this withdrawal process would take?" asked Sheppard.

"She didn't have a clue. Could be a few hours or a few days, personally I'm leaning more towards the days estimate".

"We're going to have to be very careful what we say around this place until this is over, you realise".

"Yeah I know. I hate being in this kind of situation, but we can't afford to let the wrong person know and at the moment I just don't know who we can trust. Guess the IOA's screening programme isn't all it's cracked up to be".

Turning a corner they ran head first into Dr McKay, who was being trailed by his, now ever present, shadow – namely Rula.

"Ah good. I was just coming to find you. Do you now anything yet?"

"No Rodney" said Sam. "We were just trying to decide on our next course of action".

"Okay well here's a radical idea" he said sarcastically, waving his arms around wildly. "We need to talk to someone on the medical staff about these tests results and the only one we know we can trust, is Marie. So she'll have to do, won't she. Shall we get moving then? Come on, chop, chop".

In a stage whisper and with his usual trademark smirk John said "And he's back folks!"

Laughing, Sam agreed. "John, contact Lorne and let him know we're on our way. Teyla should already be there".

The 3 adults set off down the corridor at a brisk pace, forcing poor Rula to run to keep up with them.

"Hang on" said McKay, stopping abruptly. "Get up here brat" he said, smiling as he swung Rula up onto his shoulders, where she giggled happily, wrapping her tiny arms around his neck.

John and Sam looked at each other, then at McKay, in complete and utter shock.

"What's the matter? Us geniuses have to stick together, you know" he called over his shoulder as the pair of them strode off.

Shaking his head in disbelief, John turned back to Sam. "Okay , maybe he's not back. Things are most definitely getting weird around here" he said, as they followed the strange couple.

Before long they arrived at Marie's quarters to be greeted by the 4 Marines stationed there, but not Major Lorne.

"The Major's inside, Sir" said one as he palmed the door control.

The little group entered to be met with the sight of Evan Lorne and Marie playing board games on the floor with Penta and Kazy, being watched from an easy chair by a smiling Teyla. On seeing his commanding officers, Lorne scrambled to his feet, looking faintly embarrassed.

"Sorry Sirs" he mumbled his apology.

"Don't worry about it, Major. It looks like the kids are taking over the asylum" Sheppard said, pointing at McKay. "Okay kids, we grown ups have some things to talk about, so I want the 3 of you to go play in the bedroom 'til we're done".

McKay let Rula down and the children went off to play, gathering pencils and paper on the way.

"Okay" Sam started, when everyone had found somewhere to sit. "Marie, we need you to go over Dr Keller's test results and work out what the hell we're missing in all this".

"I don't know how much help I'll be. I haven't exactly got the training, you understand".

"Please just take a look" Sam said giving her Rodney's PDA.

After 10 minutes of careful study, Marie looked up and shook her head. "I'm sorry Col."

"John, maybe we are looking at this problem the wrong way" said Teyla slowly. "If Jennifer had been returned to Earth, what would have happened to her".

"Presumably she'd have been taken to a military hospital. Why?"

"Only we and the person who did this, knows that she has been given the Wraith enzyme. Everybody else assumes that she has had some kind of mental breakdown which has caused her to become violent. Why was she not tested for any drugs in the infirmary and why is Dr Jenkins so insistent on her going to Earth?"

"Because it's not Jennifer, but the enzyme that they're trying to get to Earth" said McKay in an unnaturally calm voice. "That's it. It has to be. We've controlled all the information on the enzyme, deliberately not let it get back to our Galaxy. Can you imagine what would happen if it fell into the wrong hands, say The Trust. Hell, even some of those in power in the military would probably try to use it to create a super soldier, an addicted super soldier. It would be easy for those types to 'liberate' Keller from even a secure hospital".

"Would any still be left in her system by the time she reached Earth" asked Sheppard.

"The enzyme is 'used up' the more active you are. Jennifer isn't active at all, she's sedated and would have been all the way to Earth. I mean, no one would want a violent maniac running around a spaceship, would they? Plus if some of the other things with it were inhibitors, that would slow things down even more". He looked at Marie, who nodded her agreement. "Who packed up her belongings, do we know?" he added.

"You think that they may actually be trying to smuggle some of the enzyme as well, don't you?" asked Sam.

"Makes sense to have a back up plan".

"What would happen to Jennifer?" Teyla wanted to know.

"One way or another she would die" answered Rodney sadly.

"Was Jennifer deliberately targeted?" asked Marie, "or was she just convenient because of her injuries?"

"I don't know Marie, I wish I did" sighed Sam. She looked at her watch and shivered.

"What's the matter?" asked Marie.

"Jennifer should be waking up anytime now. I need you to be ready if Ronon can't handle her".

John smirked as he and Teyla spoke together "He'll handle her!"

A/N Thank you to all who are still following this story. I'm afraid the dreaded 'plot bunny' has got away from me and it's going on a bit longer than I expected. For those who wanted some answers, I hope this chapter has answered at least one of them.


	9. Chapter 9

Ronon was terrified. Not of being injured and not of Jennifer, but that in his efforts to subdue her, she would be badly hurt. Never before had he had to try so hard not to kill or maim his opponent and, at that moment, that was precisely what Jennifer was. When he trained the Marines, he and they both knew the score – he would be giving around 80, the Marines 110. After all it made no sense to kill those he was training. Now though he was operating at below 50 and it was he who stood the chance of injury. Jennifer's 'style' of fighting was not pretty, but under the influence of the Wraith enzyme, it was deadly.

He thought back to the communication he had received from Sheppard just prior to Jen waking up. Sheppard had explained their theory about someone trying to get the enzyme to Earth and the possibility that there was some in Jen's bags. Knowing that he didn't have time to do a thorough search of them and that he couldn't pass them to the guards outside his door, he had been forced to try and hide them. He just hoped that Jennifer wouldn't figure out a way to get to them.

Sheppard's warning that the enzyme could still be at full strength had surprised him.

"Are you sure?" he had asked.

"Not completely. Her test results show that it's quite likely though".

Ronon knew that the enzyme affected everyone differently and since they had no way of knowing with Jen, they couldn't predict how long it would take her to 'use it up'.

When she did wake, even he was surprised. At first she didn't seem to recognise him at all. When she did, it was as if she just didn't care. All she wanted to do was fight and she attacked him with a ferocity that stunned him. His quarters were soon totally wrecked and while he made every effort to ensure she had a soft landing on the mattress, Jennifer had no such qualms. He bounced off the walls with such force, he thought his teeth were going to shake loose and he was sure that even with McKay's privacy programme running, the Marine's outside must have heard the fight.

Ronon quickly lost track of time and he began to doubt whether he could outlast Jen. Then, almost as though a switch had been turned off, she stopped and slumped to the floor. Gingerly, hurting more than he had in years, he made his way to her, gently picked her up and carried her to the mattress where he laid her on her back. Sitting beside her he quickly and efficiently checked her limbs for any obvious breaks, relieved when he found none.

Knowing that when she woke again his problems would really start, he took the opportunity to check in with Sheppard and the others.

Explaining to Sheppard how vicious Jennifer had been, he said, with just a touch of awe in his voice, "She was like a tigress protecting her cubs. The enzyme enhances your own strength, so that you last longer during the feeding process, but this was more than that. She didn't know who I was at first".

"And when she realised...?"

"She didn't care. We can't let this stuff get to Earth, it's way too dangerous. Have you made any progress on working out who's doing this?"

"McKay, along with his little helper, is compiling a list of which doctors have been doing any research on it. We're hoping Keller might have seen who gave her the stuff, but it's unlikely. She's going to take this badly, you know. In her mind, it'll be a personal betrayal and then there's what's just happened between you two. I only hope that she's strong enough to deal with it".

"Talking of which... I could do with a few medical supplies – band-aids, bandages, tape – that sort of thing".

"No problem. I'll tell your guards you've been taking it out on the wall since you can't get at me. You'll have to put Keller out of sight in, say 10 minutes. Ok".

"John" Ronon began, almost hesitantly, "before in the infirmary, when I said that if Jen wasn't on Atlantis..."

"Yeah buddy, I know. You'll leave if she goes back. What about if she just goes back to get over it all for a couple of weeks?"

"Short answer – I don't know. Have you decided what I should tell her?"

"The consensus here, is tell her everything we know, it'll be better in the long run. I'll send Lorne with the band-aids, Teyla and I will keep an eye on Marie and the kids. Hang in there buddy" replied John.

Ronon had been watching Jen closely for a couple of minutes, sensing that she was beginning to wake. He signed off, telling Sheppard he would contact him immediately if Jen remembered anything or in 6 hours if not.

He moved back to her side taking hold of her hand, saying softly "Doc. Come on Doc, you need to wake up for me".

Jennifer struggled to open her eyes. "Ronon?" she whispered "What's going on? Where am I? I was in the infirmary..."

"Doc, I promise I'll tell you everything but you have to do as I say, ok. Let's get you sat up first" he said, helping her into a comfortable position and keeping his hand against her back to stop her from toppling over.

"Ronon, you're bleeding. Why aren't we at the infirmary getting you seen to?" Jennifer asked starting to get worried.

She looked down at herself and realised what she was wearing. Blushing brightly, she pulled away from Ronon but he grabbed her wrist with his other hand, keeping her in place. She started to shake, from a mixture of fear and the onset of the withdrawal symptoms, and Ronon pulled her close so that she was virtually on his lap.

"Ronon, please... please let me go" she cried, trying to pull away.

He held on to her even tighter. "Easy Doc, you have to listen to me. You said you trusted me, do you remember?" She nodded. "Okay, then trust me now. You're safe with me, I swear, but for now you need to go in the bathroom and stay there, silently, until I come and get you. Will you do that for me Doc, please?"

"Why? Just give me a reason" she pleaded.

He gave a huge sigh. "You're hiding here. Someone's trying to hurt you".

"Not you?" she whispered.

"No Doc , not me. Never me. I could never hurt you. In your heart, I think you know that, don't you?"

"Yeah" she said as Ronon helped her up and led her into the bathroom.

"Remember, don't make a sound" he said, closing the door just as his door chime sounded and he went to collect the supplies from Lorne.

Lorne entered the quarters quickly and took a look around. Silently he asked where Jennifer was and Ronon nodded in the direction of his bathroom. Handing over the supplies, he turned and left, stopping briefly to talk to the Marines guarding his friend. Soon he was on his way back to Marie's quarters where Sheppard and Teyla were waiting impatiently for his report.

"Well?" demanded Sheppard as soon as the Major had one foot in the door.

"He's going to have to do some serious redecorating if he's planning to stay in those quarters, there's blood on the walls. I didn't see the Doc, but then I didn't really expect to. Ronon looks a real mess – cuts and bruises everywhere. I just hope the Doc can manage to patch him up before she gets too bad, I remember what McKay was like when he was going through it".

"Well it's all up to him now. We're just going to have to trust that he knows what he's doing. It's not an ideal situation, I'd much rather a doctor was there, but with us not knowing who we can trust..." Sheppard left his sentence hanging.

They really did have no other choice.


	10. Chapter 10

In Ronon's quarters, specifically Ronon's bathroom, Jen had completed a quick self check and she was confused, scared and upset. She had cuts and bruises, like Ronon, though not as many. Something had happened between them, she was sure of it – she just didn't know what. When the door opened, he instantly saw the fear on her face and he prepared himself for the inevitable questions.

Jen though, had other ideas. As Ronon backed into his room from the open doorway to let her enter, Jen darted past him, intent on reaching the door, but Ronon was quicker and snagged her arm, before she got half way there. Jen began to panic and started to pummel his broad chest with her small fists, which he caught easily in one of his large hands. After a brief struggle Jen found herself with her arms pinned behind her back by one hand, pulled tightly against Ronon's body, while his other hand tangled in her hair, tilting her head back so that she was forced to look at him.

"Ronon let me go, please let me go" she whispered.

"I can't Doc. I'm sorry, really sorry, but you have to stay here with me. You're sick and someone out there wants to hurt you" he whispered back, pointing at the door, his eyes keeping her locked in place just as effectively as his hand had done.

"I don't believe you, you're lying. Why are you lying? Why would anyone want to hurt me?" Her voice was now so low that Ronon had to strain to hear her.

"Jennifer, you know I wouldn't lie to you. Remember, you trust me". By this time was almost pleading with her. If she'd stopped trusting him, he knew that he would have no choice but to contact Sheppard for help.

"Tell me what the hell's happening to me then. I'm so confused" she said, her voice slightly stronger now.

"Do you trust me, completely trust me?" Ronon asked softly, as he brought his head down, closer to hers.

Jen closed her eyes and she gave a huge sigh, "Yeah" was all she said.

That was all Ronon needed to hear. He scooped her up easily and carried her back to the mattress, which was now against one wall. He slid down, still holding her tightly and made himself comfortable keeping her on his lap.

"Open your eyes Jennifer" he demanded "I want you to look at me, see that I'm telling you the truth".

Slowly she complied. "Okay I'm ready".

"Questions first. What's the last thing you remember after I came to see you in the infirmary that night?"

Jennifer answered slowly and carefully – her head was starting to feel fuzzy. "Okay, Marie woke me up before she went off shift – I told her to eat and get some sleep. Then I thought someone was watching me – I must have been seeing things 'cause I thought I saw Rula. I remember asking for my laptop to do some work. I must have fallen asleep and the next thing I remember is waking up here".

"You're sure there's nothing else?"

"I'm positive".

"Damn" sighed Ronon as he tapped his earpiece. "Sheppard, come in". A pause, then "No, she saw nothing. I know I said I'd contact you later but it looks as if she's starting to go into withdrawal now and I'll likely be occupied. We have no idea how long this will take, but if you find the person responsible - he's mine". Without waiting for a reply, he signed off.

"Ronon, don't feel well, I can't stop shaking. What's wrong with me?" murmured Jennifer, trying to crawl off Ronon's lap.

"Come on Doc, stay with me a little bit longer. Lorne brought medical supplies, we need to patch each other up".

Ronon didn't really want to let go of Jen, much less let her move away from him, but he knew he had no choice. He helped Jen to her feet and led her to where he'd stashed the band-aids. While Ronon explained everything that had happened to Jen in the past couple of days, she cleaned and dressed the worst of his wounds. When she realised that she had caused most of them, she went very quiet and couldn't look at him.

Placing a finger under her chin, he tipped her head back so that he could look into her eyes. "It wasn't your fault. You had no control over what you did, remember that".

Jen nodded. By the time that he had finished speaking though, Jen felt terrible. Her hands were shaking badly, her legs felt like jelly and she'd started sweating.

"Ronon what do I do? I mean, I read Carson's notes on Rodney but you've been through it, what more can I expect?" she ground out. Every part of her body felt on fire. "So hot" she said "feel so damn hot".

"You'll need something looser to wear" he said, going to his closet and pulling out his longest, thinnest and softest shirt.

Taking it back to her, he helped her change into it, noticing that she didn't seem to be as embarrassed as he would have thought and then carried her back to the mattress and laid her down. He filled a bowl with ice cold water, gathered together cloths and towels and dropped down on the mattress beside her, gently wiping her face as she tossed and turned, mumbling words he could not understand.

Meanwhile in the locked conference room, Rodney was giving his report.

"Right, according to the logs, there are 15 Doctors who have the authority to conduct research using the Wraith enzyme, Jennifer being one of them. I think we can safely rule her out, don't you? Of the other 14 – 2 couldn't hack it here and returned to Earth over 6 months ago, Carson" here he closed his eyes and paused briefly "is dead, as is one other. That leaves 10 suspects. At the moment 1, Dr Mills, is on leave on Earth and has been since before this mess began. There's the list".

He placed his PDA on the table and slid it across to Sheppard, who picked it up and checked the names on display.

"Okay, well when we cross you and Zelenka off, that takes us down to 7".

"No can do. If you are still planning to do the questioning with the kid present, then you're going to have to do both of us as well. I know we've nothing to hide, well I mean... everyone's got something to hide... even us... just not about this. It's not going to take long for the word to get around that you're questioning people and it'll take even less for someone to put two and two together and come up with the enzyme. If you don't test us, there'll be talk of favouritism".

"Gotcha" conceded Sheppard.

Sam held out her hand and Sheppard handed her the PDA. She scanned the list of names quickly and her face fell.

"Problem Sam?" asked McKay.

"Yes dammit. The one name I was expecting, actually hoping, would be on there, isn't" she said, disappointedly.

"Yeah. Jenkins was the obvious suspect wasn't he? We know that, for whatever reason, he doesn't like working for Keller and he's the one who pushed for her to be sent back to Earth for treatment. But for someone working in another galaxy, he seems strangely uncomfortable treating any non-Earth born humans" said Sheppard.

"Wonder how he managed to get posted here then. Probably knows somebody who knows somebody else etc." said McKay, "IOA I'll bet".

"Okay" said Sam, standing "we'll do the interviews in here. Kazy can sit in that corner" she pointed to the far side of the room, "drawing or whatever. She can keep an eye on proceedings and let us know if our suspect is lying or not".

"Does she understand what we want her to do? She's only 5, for Heaven's sake!"

"Yes Rodney, she knows and she knows how important it is".

"How are we going to play this? All in a room together and take them out individually, or just pluck them from their designated areas one at a time?" asked Sheppard.

"All together I think. Make sure whichever room we use has working cameras. When they've been interviewed, send them back to work – no contact with the ones left behind" answered Sam.

"Done this often Col?" asked Sheppard.

"No, but had it done to me plenty of times" she laughed. "Be nice to be on the other side of the table for a change".


	11. Chapter 11

45 minutes later they were ready. The holding room had been well prepared – small tables, uncomfortable chairs and really bad coffee in the coffee maker. The cameras and audio equipment, on the other hand, were brilliant and Carter and Sheppard watched with interest as the 9 suspects were escorted into the room by Major Lorne. As had previously been arranged with Sheppard, Rodney demanded to know what was going on.

"Sorry Doctor McKay. I was just instructed to get you all here. I have no idea what this is all about" he said, lying through his teeth. "I suggest you make yourselves comfortable, Col. Carter should be along shortly" he added as he left the room.

In the conference room, Sam and Sheppard finished going over the list of questions that they had agreed on.

"How long you going to let them stew?" asked Sheppard.

"I thought about 20 minutes – it's a nice round figure. Give them time to talk among themselves but hopefully not enough to make the connection to the enzyme".

"Alphabetical order?" he queried.

"Yes. That'll put the King Brothers first. They're xenobiologists – not high on my list, but you never know. I'm pretty sure it's got to be someone who works in the infirmary. Then it'll be McKay, who I'm not going to bother questioning whatever he says, then 5 from medical and lastly Zelenka.

"And if none of them put up any red flags?"

"Then we're screwed" said Sam "at least till Keller's back on her feet. Maybe, just maybe, her presence in the infirmary will draw out our traitor. Have you heard from Ronon recently?"

"No. I'm working on the theory of no news is good news" replied Sheppard.

Unfortunately, in this case, that theory didn't hold water. Jen's withdrawal from the drug was quite different from Ronon's own experience. Oh, she'd had the shakes and stomach cramps, sickness and sweats. It was the latter symptom that had Ronon worried. Even though he had tried all ways to keep her cool, her temperature continued to rise. He decided to wait a little longer and if things did not improve, he would have to contact Sheppard for help.

Back in the conference room, Sam reckoned the Doctors had had enough 'stewing time'. She entered the holding room to be greeted by a barrage of complaints. Scientists were so easy to piss off, she thought, forgetting for a moment that she was a Doctor too!

Eventually she snapped. "Quiet" she yelled. Gradually the noise level dropped until only one voice could be heard, predictably it was McKay. "McKay, shut up this instant. And don't any of you others say a single word. I'm speaking now, and as the Military Commander of this base, I am hereby informing you, that you are all under suspicion of aiding the enemy, a traitorous act. You will be brought, one by one, to the conference room to be questioned, in name order, Dr Kevin King first. That is all".

With that she turned and left the room, telling Lorne to give her 5 minutes and then rejoined Sheppard.

"Do you think they bought that cover story?" asked Sheppard as they waited.

Sam just shrugged. She hoped that they had – neither Colonel had wanted them to know the real reason they were being questioned until Kazy could hear their responses.

When Dr King was brought in, he didn't look particularly worried.

"Sit down, please" said Sam.

"Colonel, I can assure you that I have done nothing which could even remotely be considered aiding the enemy".

"Oh I know that Doctor. That's not the reason you're here. I am going to ask you a series of questions which only require a yes or no answer. Please answer them in that manner. Do you understand?"

Looking totally confused, he agreed.

"Have you handled the Wraith enzyme in the past week?"

"No".

"Have you contacted Earth about the enzyme?"

"No".

The questions continued until Sam asked the big one. "Did you inject the Wraith enzyme into Dr Keller's IV line?"

"No, of course not".

Sam looked towards Kazy who shook her head.

"Very well Doctor, you may go. A Marine will escort you back to your work area. Please do not discuss this with anyone – Dr Keller's life is at stake. Am I clear?"

"Yes Colonel" he replied, leaving the room.

"One down, 8 – no 6 really – to go" sighed Sheppard.

The process was repeated with Steven King, with the same negative result, then McKay was brought in.

"Anything?" he asked.

"No but we didn't really expect anything from those 2. Any chatter among the medical staff?" asked Sheppard.

"Plenty of chatter, nothing relevant".

Just then Sheppard heard Ronon's voice in his earpiece.

"Hey Big Guy, What's up?"

"Plenty. Her temperature's rising and I can't bring it down. It's coming up on 105 degrees".

"Hang tight. McKay, what's danger level for body temp, quickly. Keller's is 105 and climbing".

"Damn, that's bad. He's got to get her to the infirmary now. Do I liberate the Doctors?" yelled McKay, jumping to his feet.

Sheppard looked at Sam, who said "We've no choice. McKay and I will take 6 Marines with us, get set up for their arrival. One Marine per Doctor, we might get lucky". They were out of the door before Sam had even finished speaking.

"Major Preston, this is Sheppard. Do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Sir" came the reply.

"Good, then listen carefully. Ronon is going to be taking Dr Keller from his quarters to the infirmary and he is going to be moving. Understand. Keep up with him and don't let anyone stop him. Explanations will be forthcoming sometime soon, I hope".

Major Preston gathered his men, gave them their orders and waited for Ronon to appear, which happened in a matter of seconds. Ronon exited his quarters carrying Jennifer's limp body and with a brief nod to the Major, tore off down the corridors of Atlantis towards the infirmary, with the Marine's hot on his heels.

"Over here" shouted Sheppard as soon as he saw them, waving them to a bed that had been prepared for Jennifer.

Ronon laid her gently down and stepped back as Dr Sharpe, a newish member of Jen's team , moved to examine her. Dr Jenkins, who had been off duty when the infirmary was 'invaded' pushed his way through the throng.

"What is the meaning of this. I want all of you out of my infirmary immediately. How dare you disrupt..."he blustered, falling silent only when his gaze fell on the imposing figure of Ronon.

"Your infirmary!" he growled, pointing at Jennifer. "No, it's her infirmary, she's CMO here, you're just a stand-in".

Dr Jenkins looked at the figure on the bed and paled, which did not go unnoticed by either Ronon or Sheppard. Sheppard was quick but Ronon was quicker and he had the unfortunate Doctor pinned to the wall in seconds.

"You did this" he hissed "you injected the stuff, tried to kill her". His hand closed around the man's throat.

Jenkin's eyes flicked across the room, coming to rest on Dr Thomas who was trying to edge towards the door. Sheppard saw the movement and ordered him restrained, before turning his attention back to Ronon and Jenkins.

"Ronon let him down" he commanded. "He can't talk if you crush his windpipe and I know that you'd really like to do that, but to help Jennifer we need answers from him".

Ronon relaxed his grip just enough so that his prisoner could breathe. Behind him there was a flurry of activity around Jen's bed, as various pieces of equipment were wheeled into place.

"Do you know what's wrong with her?" called Dr Sharpe.

"She's been drugged and is in withdrawal. It's part Wraith enzyme, part something else and it's the something else that's causing the problem" replied Sheppard, turning to Jenkins.

"Make it easier on yourself, Doc. What did you give her?"

"Nothing. I didn't give her anything. Thomas... Thomas is the one who did it – said it would just make her sick, too sick to work and she'd have to go home. Then I would be in charge, run the place how it should be run – my way..." he babbled.

"Shut up, you stupid old fool!" yelled Thomas, trying to pull away from his guards, as Sheppard stalked over to him.

In a low voice Sheppard said "Unless you want me to let Ronon loose on you, I suggest you start talking NOW".

Thomas looked between Sheppard and the glaring Ronon before opening his mouth. "Fine" he snarled, before reciting a list of things that Sheppard had never heard of but that Dr Sharpe obviously had.

"Jeez" he said, even as he started issuing instructions, "it's no wonder she went psychotic. Colonels, I realise we medics are probably not your favourite people at the moment, but we do need the space to work. So if you wouldn't mind vacating..."

Sam looked at him and nodded. "Very well Doctor, but I'll leave 2 Marines here in case these two were not working alone. Major Lorne, please bring Marie here, Dr Keller will need to see a friendly face when she wakes. The rest of us, let's go".


	12. Chapter 12

Dr Jenkins and Dr Thomas were escorted to the conference room by Major Preston and 2 teams of Marines, after having suffered the humiliation of being thoroughly searched in the corridor outside the infirmary. Sam was taking no chances on them having any kind of weapon – be it a loaded gun or a loaded syringe. The 2 Colonels and Ronon lingered a moment to talk to Dr Sharpe.

"Will she be alright, Doc?" asked Sheppard.

"I don't know. The drugs she was given have obviously interacted with the enzyme. It would help if I knew how she had reacted once the sedation had worn off".

Ronon was torn between just telling them everything and trying to give Jennifer some kind of privacy. Sam, sensing his dilemma, nodded to him and pushed Sheppard out of the door and away from the infirmary.

"Let's leave them to it, okay" she said, when Sheppard protested. "I'm sure we'll find out the details eventually. You read Carson's notes on Rodney's withdrawal – I'm guessing Jennifer's was a lot worse".

"Yeah, you're right, of course. Now shall we go and beat the crap out of those 2, before Ronon gets here and has all the fun".

"As much as I'd like to beat them up, we'd better not let anything happen to them, especially if we have any intention of returning them to Earth".

"Well it won't be for trial" remarked Sheppard. "We can't afford either word of Atlantis or the enzyme to get around. Still, that's for those higher-up than us to decide, isn't it? Maybe some General" and here he smirked knowingly at Sam "might just decide to lose them on some planet or other".

"Col. Sheppard. I am shocked that you could even think of a plan like that" said Sam, trying very hard to keep the laughter out of her voice, as the made their way to interrogate their prisoners.

"Seriously, what will happen to them, do you think?"

"If Thomas is working for someone like the Trust, he'll probably have an 'accident', Jenkins forced retirement I guess".

In the Infirmary Ronon was explaining how, when Jennifer had woken, she had fought him until the effects of the enzyme wore off. He described the shakes, cramps and how her temperature had started to rise. He hesitated before describing how he'd tried to cool her by giving her cold showers and leaving her unclothed. While he had no problem with nudity, he knew that Jennifer would not want people to find out what had happened to her.

Maybe it was because Dr Sharpe was fairly new to Atlantis, but he was one of the few Doctors who wasn't terrified of Ronon, as could be seen by the fact that he put his hand on Ronon's shoulder when he spoke.

"Don't worry. Nobody will find out from me, including Dr Keller. You did the right thing, by the way, trying to get her temp down".

"How long before you know if she'll be okay?"

"It'll be several hours. Should give you plenty of time to help Col. Sheppard ask his questions" replied Dr Sharpe.

"I'll be back when we're done" he stated, as he turned to leave.

"Never thought otherwise" murmured Sharpe, returning to Jennifer's bedside.

Ronon grinned to himself, for what felt like the first time in days, when his excellent hearing picked up the Doctor's words.

When he arrived at the conference room, he found it guarded by 4 Marines and Major Preston.

"Major. Is there a problem?"

"No problem. Just a request from Col. Sheppard, don't kill them. You can yell or scare them but the Colonel wants to send 2 live bodies back to Earth".

"Understood. I'll try and restrain myself".

Preston looked at him, unsure of whether he was serious or not, but eventually he opened the door for Ronon. All eyes flew to him as he entered, Jenkins visibly scared and Thomas angry.

"Ronon, just in time" said Sheppard. "Dr Thomas here was getting ready to explain himself"

"Don't see why I should" he sneered.

"Simple. If you do and you tell us who you were working for, you might not get the death penalty" said Sheppard.

"I won't get the death penalty anyway. I know that there can't be a trial and I have friends on Earth who'll make sure nothing bad ever happens to me – friends in very high places, you know".

Sheppard moved to within inches of the Doctor. "1. Who said anything about a trial? And 2. Who said anything about Earth?" he said coldly, with a sideways glance at Ronon.

Returning to his previous position, he allowed Sam to continue with their questions, as Ronon glowered at the Doctor.

"I don't like you, Dr Thomas. Col Sheppard doesn't like you. The people on this base won't like you when they learn what you did to Dr Keller and Ronon over there would kill you in a heartbeat and not think twice about it. So I'll ask you again. Why Dr Keller? Why did you want to get the enzyme to Earth? Who are you working for? And finally, are you working alone?"

Dr Thomas was starting to sweat. If they didn't send him back to Earth, he was as good as dead – one look at Ronon's face told him that.

"Okay, but I want to make a deal". Sam nodded and Thomas continued "I was contacted by an organisation that I believe you have had dealings with before – The Trust. They knew about the Atlantis mission and they offered me money – a great deal of money – for anything useful that I could smuggle back to Earth. They wanted to synthesize the enzyme, they reckoned they could make millions selling it to different terrorist groups".

Sam interrupted "How did they find out about the stuff in the first place?"

"Through Caldwell when he was a Goa'uld host".

"Damn" said Sheppard "Cat's out of the bag now, that's for sure. We need a much better screening process".

"Why Dr Keller?" asked Sam.

"Why not?" came the reply. "I knew I couldn't smuggle pure enzyme off Atlantis, but I'm a damn good Doctor. I knew what to combine it with to keep it inert in a human body and the Trust's Goa'uld technology would have been able to remove it from the bloodstream. Dr Keller was injured, she was handy. It was no secret that Jenkins over there, hated her guts. I played on that. Told him I could give her something, make her just sick enough, that she would have to be sent back to Earth. I mean, we're not really equipped to deal with psychos, are we? Then Jenkins would be in charge and he would owe me. He was so easy to manipulate, the fool".

Ronon stood. "All this was about you getting rich? And Jennifer was just 'handy'? We should drop you on a hiveship and let them feed on you, you worthless piece of..." he growled, advancing on the seated man.

"Col. Carter, we had a deal" spluttered Thomas, as he rose and backed away from Ronon. "Keep him away from me".

"Okay Ronon" said Sheppard, half-heartedly "leave him be. Keller wouldn't be happy if you killed him, you know".

"Who'd tell her?"

"She'd find out. Women always find out our little secrets. I do know how you feel but it really isn't worth the grief you'll get. Let us deal with him, okay".

Ronon shook his head but he knew Sheppard was right. Jennifer would definitely be mad at him if he hurt either of these 2 and after having had a taste of 'mad' Jennifer he wasn't sure if he wanted another – at least not until they were both healed.

He backed away as Sam instructed 2 Marines to take Thomas to a holding cell until arrangements could be made. Sam then turned her attention to Dr Jenkins.

"Before you start Col., I would like to point out that I had no idea that Dr Thomas had given Keller the Wraith enzyme".

"And if you had known, Dr Jenkins, would it have made any difference?"

"Believe it or not, yes it would. I wanted her off Atlantis, not dead".

"Why" asked Ronon. "What did she ever do to you to make you hate her like that?"

Purposely not looking at Ronon, he replied "What did she do to me! She took a position that should rightfully have been mine. That's what she did". Getting more and more agitated and with his voice rising every second, he continued "She had no right to even be here. Women, especially young women have no business being in charge of anything, she should never have been named CMO. Weir was a fool to give her the job. I know how the infirmary should be run – stop treating the bloody aliens. We should be treating our own, not the aliens, after all they're not human . Shouldn't waste time and resources on them".

Dr Jenkins continued his tirade, repeating himself over and over. It was almost as though he'd forgotten they were even there. Finally Sam could stand it no longer and slugged him.

"It was quicker than calling for a sedative" she said in response to Sheppard's raised eyebrow. Turning to Ronon she said "I'm sorry that you had to hear that and I hope you realise we're not all like him".

"I understand that there will always be people who are frightened by something or someone new. Do you need me for anything else, Colonel?"

"No, I think we can take care of things here, thank you".

"Then I will be in the Infirmary. I will see you later, Sheppard?" he queried and on receiving a nod, turned and walked away, heading back to his Doctor.


	13. Chapter 13

Ronon stayed in the Infirmary for 2 days while Jennifer fought for her life. After only a few hours Lorne and Sheppard appeared carrying an easy chair between them.

"Here" said Sheppard, dragging Ronon from his chair, replacing it with the comfy one. "You may as well be comfortable while you stay with her. We've set up a rota to bring you food at regular intervals. Teyla's collared a couple of Marines and they're doing up your quarters. Jennifer's belongings, we've moved into store until she's recovered, then with her permission we'll go through them and make sure Thomas didn't hide any of the enzyme".

Ronon wearily nodded his head and thanked them both.

"Okay Big Guy, What's up" asked Sheppard once Lorne had gone.

"What if she does go back to Earth?"

"Well she didn't want to go before so why would she go now?"

"I don't know. I just wish she'd wake up so that I can talk to her about it" Ronon said softly.

Sheppard sighed "I know. It's hard to be patient but sometimes that's all we can do. That and pray".

So Ronon sat and waited and prayed to the Ancestors. Then finally on the 3rd day as he was dozing, he felt a light touch on his hand that was resting on her bed. Instantly wide awake, he clasped her small hand tightly.

"Hi" she said shyly.

"Hey" he answered, grateful beyond words that his prayers had been answered.

"What'd I miss" she whispered.

Ronon proceeded to tell her everything that had happened – apart from the bits he thought it best to keep from her, like the fight and naked cold showers. He could always tell her about those later. She was horrified and upset by the 

behaviour of 2 members of her team and would have kept on apologising to him but he kissed her, very gently. When her heart remembered to start beating again, she blushed and he laughed.

She stayed in the Infirmary for a further 2 days under observation and Ronon was a constant visitor. Before she discharged herself, she called all her staff together making it very clear to them that she was the one who made the rules. There would be no racism and no sexism in her Infirmary and if anyone disagreed they needed to put in for a transfer quickly. Fortunately no one did. Unknown to her, Ronon was watching her from the door, proud of the strength he heard in her voice.

When she had finished, he walked over to her and grabbed her bag.

"You ready for some real food?" he asked.

"God yes. I hate Infirmary food".

"Good. Come and join us in the Mess Hall. The others are waiting".

"Are you sure?"

He didn't even bother to answer, just placed his hand on the small of her back and guided her through the corridors.

"Hey Doc. Glad you could join us" smirked Sheppard as they reached the table. "Come on, sit down".

After a while spent eating and talking Teyla finally asked the question that they all wanted the answer to. "So Jennifer" she said "are you staying on Atlantis?"

The table fell silent while Jennifer decided on her answer. "I thought about going back but I decided I'd miss you all too much, so yes I'm staying".

There were loud cheers from the table which were soon joined by others as the news spread through the Mess.

"Okay I have a question" said Rodney. "Why were you so convinced that they were going to send you back to Earth".

"Oh I've been convinced of that ever since Dr Weir made me CMO. I was sure that she'd realise that I wasn't right for the job and then when Col. Carter took over I still thought it would happen".

"So you're saying it had nothing to do with this at all" said Rodney "no premonition or anything like that".

"Nope".

"Good. Then might I suggest we get back to work. The Galaxy won't save itself you know".

"Yes Rodney" they all shouted together.

"I'll save the Galaxy later" said Ronon "Got something better to do first".

Holding Jennifer's hand he led her out of the Mess Hall heading, he hoped, towards a brighter future.

The End.


End file.
